Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House

Nate and Dave's Excellent San Francisco Adventure… and Popovers(!)(Friday, January 17th, 2014)

https://www.cliffhouse.com/bistro/index.htmlPlace: The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff HouseLocation: 1090 Point Lobos (at the end of the Earth/Ocean Beach)Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Saturday at 9:00am and Sunday at 8:30amMeals: (Me) Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ scrambled eggs, red peppers, tomatoes, scallions, button mushrooms, and melted goat cheese (served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes); (Nate) Farmer's Breakfast Scramble ~ scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes, green onions, Cheddar cheese (served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes); (Dave) Eggs San Francisco ~ two poached eggs with Dungeness crab, toasted sourdough bread, and Brandy cream sauce (served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes); I also had a glass of orange juice and Dave had a cuppa Coffee (I think Nate just stuck with water, even though I was paying)… and we all shared a basket of (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!)I really wasn't planning on making a 'blog-entry on this one from last Friday, but seeing as the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from September 21st, 2013) is part of my Breakfastary Rotation, I figured I probably should add it in here. A friend of mine (that would be the "Dave" portion from above) and his nephew (that would be the "Nate" portion from above) were up from Gilroy for a day of sightseeing and we all stopped here for a quick intake of food before doing the 50¢-tour of San Francisco: Golden Gate Park, Haight-Ashbury, Alamo Square, upupup-then-dooown Divisadero Street into the Marina, Lombard Street, and then across the Golden Gate Bridge and the great views of San Francisco from the Marin side. Unfortunately, as I wasn't planning on doing an "official" 'blog-entry, I didn't bother taking any photos while we were at the restaurant eating.

I have had most of their breakfast dishes already (or those from which I could sensibly omit the dead, decaying animal or marine insect flesh) many times over, but I would always keep going back for the (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), anyway! Actually, I just had this same meal the last time I ate there (so just pretend I am writing about it again now, but just read the last 'blog-entry from then).I have had the Farmer’s Breakfast Scramble many times in the past, myself. Nate really seemed to like it a lot. I was especially happy to see that he also enjoyed the (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), too. I think he ate three to my two to Dave's one. (If we wanted more, they would have always brought more.)Dave actually ordered something off the menu that I had never tried before, but it really wouldn't make sense being a vegetarian. He was debating on either the Johnson Omelet (Dungeness crab, avocado, and sour cream) or the one he finally decided on. He asked our server-person-lady for her opinion and she told him that she preferred the Eggs San Francisco (and seeing as I was buying this morning, that actually saved me a $1.00, too). It was a pretty unique take on an Eggs Benedict dish. The two poached eggs were piled on top of a good amount of Dungeness crab meat, and, instead of using boring ol' Mr. Thomas' baked goods as a base, these were all atop a long bias-sliced sourdough toast. I didn't ask Dave what the Brandy cream sauce tasted like; I just assumed that it was a standard Hollandaise sauce until I actually saw what was in it just now from the menu. For condimentary supplementation, the Bistro Restaurant only offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red). I didn't bring any from my own collection (I really didn't feel like schlepping them around with me for the entire day of touristing), so I just used some of the Tabasco® on my scramble and potatoes.

By the way, both Nate and Dave still owe me 50¢…Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ 6.8; Farmer's Breakfast Scramble ~ 6.5+ (this is my standard rating for this dish; I didn't ask Nate for his actual rating, but the way he seemed to enjoy it all, I figure he'd have rated it at least the same or higher); Eggs San Francisco ~ 7.5 (again, I didn't ask Dave what his rating was for this dish, but he also seemed to really like it; plus, it had lots of Dungeness crab in it); (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) ~ 8.2 (again, this is my standard rating, but I am sure everyone would agree on this rating, too)